Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and the corresponding apparatus for the mechanized and automatic production of ready-to-eat pizza, flat cakes, and the like, starting from fresh ingredients by individual production based on individual single orders.
Methods and apparatuses are known for the automatic industrial production-line and mass-produced production of pizzas and flat cakes, which essentially comprise the following work phases: preparation of the dough including rising of the dough, extruding the dough for the purpose of forming a connected mass, cutting a dough strand into the dough portions, processing the dough portions to flat round cakes, adding seasonings and toppings, baking, packaging for a consumption within the expiration date or, respectively, for deep freezing. The apparatuses for performing this method are voluminous and require much space, furthermore, several conveyor belts are required in order to transport the product from one device to the next. In order to accelerate the production of the dough, some methods employ a pre-treated, dried granulate, the seasoning, topping, and/or stuffing is carried out on a minimum number of pizzas of the same kind and in fact during the passage of the pizzas, which are disposed at small distances relative to each other on the conveyor belt and are subsequently baked in a tunnel oven; some methods bake the pizza in its own baking tins in order to allow the placement and sliding into the baking oven.
The technical features of these known devices do not allow individual production of pizzas according to individual single orders based on a selection from a list.
In addition, installations are known, wherein the pancakes are present in a pre-produced and possibly pre-cooked kind and are taken from the freezer garnished and baked or, respectively, heated up.